Former Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy reacted with relief and joy over the decision of the Cabinet to impose President's Rule in the state and more importantly keeping the House in suspended animation rather than dissolving it.

Kumaraswamy said that the decision was welcome and he was thankful that the Assembly had not been dissolved as had been sought.

Kumaraswamy, however, did not spell out the next course of action and only said that with time everything would become clear.

Keeping a House under suspended animation means that there is still hope for the political parties to work out permutations and combinations in order to form the government.

The worry now is horse-trading. Sources said the parties may now indulge in horse-trading and once they have the requisite numbers, they can stake a claim to form the government.

Kumarasway said that as of now there is no horse-trading going on. His statements were indication that state would be going in for mid-term polls.

The Congress, which would have preferred if the House had been dissolved, was careful in their reaction.

Senior Congress leaders took solace in the fact that no truck between any of the parties was possible at this point of time and the only way to put an end to the crisis was a mid-term poll.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, however, saw a ray of hope in this development.

The BJP had made a last ditch attempt on Monday to patch up with the Janata Dal-Secular before the governor recommended the imposition of President's Rule.

However as of now, it seems as though all the political parties will wait and watch.

Sources said that political parties may hold discussions only after a couple of days after the heat cools off.